It has been an awesome summer so far!

Last night I had the pleasure of going to a potluck dinner at Stitches with Style in Newark and was able to sit, knit and chat with Wendy Johnson. She is a wonderful person and someone that I know I could be great friends with. Very down to earth and has a great sense of humor. If you ever have the chance, go visit her blog, Wendy Knits. She has beautiful designs available for free and her 3rd book is available on Amazon.com for pre-order. (Which was done by me last night) I am in the process of knitting my first pair of toe up socks, Wendy's Serpentine Design.



I also thoroughly enjoyed spending a weekend with my mom for her "belated" birthday celebration. I gave her my very first lace project "Ishbel" and I think she loved it. This time for her birthday, we started in her hometown of Vineland, NJ and with using Garmin and my mom's wishlist, we went on our "Knitting Safari" as mom calls it.
We went to several wonderful knitting shops, Marlton, Haddonfield, Mt Holly and Princeton. My favorite shop was Woolbearers in Mt Holly but I had the most fun in Princeton. We went to an excellent Italian restaurant called Theresa's and the couple sitting next to us, the beautiful lady was also a knitter. Her poor friend... was not a knitter but patiently waited for us to stop talking about fiber, stores and projects and stash. After dinner, we went to a little ice cream shop called the Bent Spoon. They had very good ice cream but my favorite shop still remains to be Zippy's here in Dover. He has excellent ice cream! I should know, I am always trying out his new flavors.



At the beginning of the summer, my 3 children, my 2 grandchildren and hubby and I were treated to a vacation by my father to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was so wonderful spending quality time with everyone! We tried making it a technology free week but of course my oldest son used his cell phone to access the internet daily. So much for technology free. This first picture I love. It is a picture of my 21 year old son teaching my grandson how to jump the waves.


This is one of my favorite pictures from the week in the Outer Banks. My 2 year old grand-daughter loved going to the beach. Everyday she would march herself and her toys down the street saying "Come on Mimi (supposed to be Grammy) Hurry up, we have to get there" She is a very determined and sassy 2 year old. I love both of my grandchildren so much!









And of course, no vacation is complete unless you visit the yarn shops in the area. My hubby and Dad were fishing and I took a day to myself and visit 2 wonderful shops. The first one was in Manteo NC called Fine Yarn at Kimbeeba and the second was just outside of Kitty Hawk in Southern Shores called Knitting Addiction. Beautiful shops and I can not wait to visit them again.





















Just two more pictures to share. Fourth of July in Dover is great. I was having a great time at the parade with my daughter, her friend and my boys and 2 grandchildren. The only damper on the parade was this "Antique" Corvette. It is a 1979 Corvette. The year I graduated from high school. I will always have a problem with considering myself as being "antique"









The last picture I want to share is of my 3 cats eating their dinner. I finally was able to catch them looking like chocolate filled Oreo cookie. I know, I'm weird but I have wanted this picture for a long time.

Bengi is on the far left, Kiki in the middle and Spencer on the right. Yum, Yum, dinner time!

It must have been a cold night

I was going through some of my pictures on the computer today and came across this picture I took this past winter. Who needs a blanket when you can have one made of cats! Never thought I would ever get all 3 on my lap at the same time. I would not have if I had tried to. This has been the one and only time I have had all 3 on my lap. Truly a night to remember. :)

A Very Sad Day.....

At 8:30 this morning I put my faithful friend Sallie to sleep. I put all 90lbs of her in my lap where she always wanted to be and held her until she was gone. She is at rest and no longer has any pain. We buried her in the back yard where all our other pets are. It has been a difficult morning. She went to be with her first owner Pat, the hospice patient of mine that gave her to me 13 years ago. I will miss Sallie very, very much. I was looking through pictures and came across this particular one. It made me smile. It was taken in Maine 2003, the last time we were on vacation there. Sallie was such a patient, smart, kind and funny dog. There will never be another one like her. She is irreplaceable. This has been a hard week for me. I know it will get easier with time but it hurts today.

Sallie - The Best Dog Ever

Just a picture of my awesome dog, the best dog in the whole wide world. I have so many other things to blog about as in my wonderful weekend at the Merry Sherwood, the trip to the beach with the grandkids, Mother's day etc... but I need to post about Sallie. Sallie is 14 this year. Back in 1996 when I was a hospice nurse, a patient of mine could no longer take care of Sallie. In a heartbeat, I said I would. Sallie has been with us for 13 of her 14 years. It is time for me to let go. I can see it in Sallie's eyes. Pat is waiting for her in heaven. I have been selfish for a while but it is now time. I made the appointment at the vet for next Monday. Then we will bring Sallie home to rest in our backyard with our other beloved pets. I am so sad.

A little book found

I have been going through books and found a book about happiness. This one touched my heart. It was written by Elizabeth M. Gerus

WHAT DO I NEED TO BE HAPPY?

Give me an outlook that's cheerful and bright
Give me a heart that is loving and light
Give me the spirit to willingly try
And faith that grows stronger as time passes by

Give me the wisdom to honestly see
The wonders that every day holds out to me --
To hear every sound and rejoice that I've heard
The whisper of rain and the song of a bird

Give me one friend who's devoted and true
And I will ask nothing, Lord, further of You
For I will be blessed and, with Your help, I'll give
My best to the world every day that I live!


I have been blessed with a few really good friends and a great family who have stuck by me thick and thin and I love them so much!

I wish this for everyone else.

So little time for everything

I have not been very good at keeping up with this blogging thing. A lot of things happening that has kept me away. I am focusing on making a shawl for a special someone in my life (can not say who since she may read this).

In the next couple of days I will be posting about my awesome weekend at the Merry Sherwood in Berlin Maryland. I had a great time and am looking forward to the next weekend that Stacy may schedule.

I am waving Hi to all my friends. Next post will have pics and updates about everything!

Fun Stuff

Just thought I would show off the next 2 items I have on my needles. The first is a pair of socks for my brother-in-law Tom. He has been on me for years to make him a pair and so I call this pair of socks "It's about Time Tom Socks". These are the first I have ever done 2 at a time and I am happy so far!




The next project is the pattern from my first ever sock club. I decided to treat myself this year since I have stopped smoking and joined a sock club (or 2). Anyway, this pattern is called Wullenstudio Lace Petal socks from Sheila Rovelstadd Designs. Sheila's sock yarn is so soft and squooshy! I love it! Her web site is www.knitswithsticks.com if you are interested. She names all her sock yarn after songs and this colorway is called "The Girl from Ipanema" I remember this song from when I was young and I would play it on our player piano. It was a fun song to sing!






I hope everyone has a happy Sunday! The weather is gorgeous here in Delaware today. I may go and knit on the deck today.....